Warren County village official out of jail after arrest on child porn charges

Police: Child porn found on computer

UPDATED 5:46 AM EDT Jun 26, 2013

PLEASANT PLAIN, Ohio -

A village councilman in Warren County is now out of jail, following an arrest involving child pornography.

WLWT spoke with residents in the small community of Pleasant Plain, where 26-year-old Nicholas Smith worked as a volunteer firefighter and council member. He was arrested for allegedly having images depicting child pornography on his computer.

WLWT was unsuccessful in its attempt to reach Smith after his release from jail.

Smith has resigned from the Village Council, WLWT has learned.

According to court documents, Nick Smith used a Yahoo account to upload 134 images, some of which depicted child pornography, on March 26.

The online service provider contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about the activity, and authorities began investigating.

Authorities said Smith told them he opened two separate Flickr accounts to upload child pornography he'd found through web search engines into private photo albums and then deleting the accounts.

He also admitted to exchanging images with other users through Yahoo Messenger, federal agents said.

Smith told authorities that he's started viewing "younger stuff" within the past year, according to court documents.

Pleasant Plain Mayor Dale Groppenbacher told WLWT that Smith is "a good man. He's been around this town all his life so I have no proof. Maybe it's a misunderstanding. Always hope so."

Some who know Smith say, while they are disturbed by the allegations, they will let the case run its course.

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